Topic 3.

5: CLONING
Clones

Clones are groups of genetically identical organisms, derived from a single original parent cell
• Various methods of cloning exists for animals and plants, while humans can also clone organisms or tissues artificially

Animal Cloning Human Cloning

Binary Fission Humans can also produce clones via natural mechanisms
• The parental organism divides equally into two clones • Identical twins (monozygotic) are created when fertilised
• Occurs in flatworms (also used by bacteria and protists) eggs split in two, forming two identical embryos

Budding
MONOZYGOTIC TWINS
• Cells split off from parent, generating smaller clones
• Occurs in Hydra, but is also common to yeast

Fragmentation
• New organisms grow from separated fragment of parent
• Common to starfish and some species of annelid worm Zygote
splits
Parthenogenesis Genetically Shared
• Embryos formed from an unfertilised (diploid) ova identical placentas
• Occurs in some species of fish, insect, reptile, amphibian

Plant Cloning

Plants have the capacity for vegetative propagation, whereby small pieces of plant can be induced to grow independently
• This is because adult plants possess totipotent meristematic tissue capable of cellular differentiation

A stem cutting is a separated portion of a plant stem that is used to regrow a new clone via vegetative propagation

Artificial Cloning

Embryo Cloning Adult Cloning

• Animals can be cloned from an embryo by separating the
embryonic cells into groups
• As embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, each cell can
potentially form a cloned offspring
• As this method occurs after random fertilization, it is not
possible to control the genetic features of potential clones
• Adults can be cloned via the process of somatic cell
nuclear transfer (SCNT)
• The nucleus is removed from an adult body cell (diploid)
and fused with an enucleated egg cell
• An electric shock stimulates division of the egg cell and
the growing embryo is implanted into a surrogate

UV
Early embryo
(identical cells)

Egg cell
enucleated

Clone
Adult cells Nuclei
Clone Clone cultured removed